When I first won my Nintendo 64 in some retailer competition, I’m ashamed to say I didn’t much use it. I played the odd game here and there, but my focus was on my PlayStation which I had already owned for a number of years.

The console came without games and lay dormant for a while. As a surprise one day my Dad bought me Gex 3D and Super Mario 64. I found Gex a little hard to control, and I don’t think I ever finished it before trading it in, along with Super Mario 64 which I finished and enjoyed immensely. 

I still regret trading in Super Mario 64 for Banjo-Kazooie, even though I ended up loving both of those games. As a kid you have to make sacrifices!

Back at Silverstream Primary School I would argue with my friend David over our consoles and which game was better. He owned a Nintendo 64, and he described to me what you could do in Ocarina, telling me about this gigantic boss he killed with a slingshot. I would counter with Final Fantasy VII on PlayStation. We never played each other’s games. Talk about bias!

It was much, much later when I finally picked up the critically acclaimed Ocarina of Time. Seeing it mentioned over and over again I knew I had to experience this phenomenon for myself. I picked it up off Trade Me in 2007 for a tidy sum of $29.00 including shipping.

So I played it in 2007, but more modern games took centre stage and Ocarina was left to the wayside. I had only gotten up to Dodongo’s Cavern. I knew this wasn’t that far in, because I was still young Link, and I hadn’t even ridden a horse yet.

Which brings us to 2011 and the release of Ocarina of Time on the 3DS. With so many people talking about the remake (mostly other game journos), I knew I had to finish it once and for all. But of course I’m a cheap skate and didn’t want to pick up a 3DS, or a game I had already bought. And so I unpacked my N64 from its original box, loaded up my old Zelda save and went at it.

It took me a while to get my bearings, and I discovered something I had forgotten — old games are hard! I had to refer to an online walkthrough a couple of times to even get through the cavern. There is no GTA marker on the mini-map telling you which way to go. The minimap won’t even appear unless you find the map in a treasure chest. There is no list of objectives either. Just pure unabated discovery.

Afterwards I came across a hidden cave with a fountain. Of course the game didn’t tell me I could use my ocarina to make things happen, and I left thinking it was a waste of time. That’s probably the most insane thing I noted in an old game like this. You actually have to remember these musical notes. It’s not added to a little logbook or anything. You either have to rely on your own memory or grab a pad and pen. So I came back to the cave and performed the little tune, and some CREEPY AS HELL fairy (I’d call her a witch) springs out of nowhere cackling and gives me a neat little spell. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to endure that again for another power, but I did, again and again.

I found the weird looking sea people in Zora’s Domain. I wasted a few hours trying to get into the entrance under Lake Hylia, and missed the message in a bottle entirely. I pushed past the controls and tried my hand at a little fishing to pass the time. With my help guide at hand I eventually found the bottle, and I was swallowed by the beast Jabu-Jabu.

At first I tried carrying the princess out of the cave. I refused to listen to her cries of not wanting to leave. No such luck, the level reset and I had to do it all over again. I’m quite proud of myself here, although it took me a while, I beat not one, but several bosses, and I nearly managed to beat the dungeon without a guide. All up to the part where you had to move a crate onto a switch. Never having done that before in the game I’m guessing most people would’ve had to employ some Adventure game logic there. On re-entering the area, time and time again I would keep destroying the crate looking for pickups.

Then I finally made it to adulthood. Pulling out the Master Sword I felt like I had achieved something. It was strange to see the world look so different now that years had passed. I explored some of the old areas to see some of the changes. First I headed to the stables hoping now I could finally get a horse. The measly owner made me pay for a brief ride around the pen. Not quite the dramatic ride around Hyrule Field I had in mind.

I found my next quest quite easily, but the next part was where I ran into a great deal of trouble. I wasted time in a tomb, when there was this certain tombstone you had to push to reveal another cave, and a ghost you had to chase. I won the hookshot gadget, and although I fired it a few times at things I just couldn’t work out what exactly it did, or how to use it.

I’m sad to say that’s as far as I got. Other games got in the way. I think Bastion may have been the culprit. And now that I’ve moved into a flat without my own television, my Nintendo 64 and Zelda cartridge lay under the bed gathering dust.

Judging by my previous record, perhaps 2015 will fare better?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 7th, 2011 at 7:24 pm and is filed under 3DS, Feature Article, Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.